Spring winder



Augj- 1943- J. A. GATES 2,446,755

SPRING WINDER Fi led Jan. 15, 1945 IN V EN TOR. x7 6556 6'! 621565.

HTraIr/YE V5.

Patented Aug. 10, 1948 "UNITED STA-res PATEN T OFFICE .SPRING WINDER Jesse .A.'Gates; Royal Oak, Mich. v :ApplicationJanuary- 13, 1945, Serial No. 572,705

2 Claims.

This invention relates to spring winders-and has for its principal object the provision of a device of this type thatis simple in construction,

efiicient in operation, and economical to build.

Objects of .the invention include the provision of a spring winder comprising a pair-of U-shaped members arranged in nesting relationship, the overlapping sides or legs -of.=the-members-=being provided with openings therein forreception of a spring winding mandrel, -means cooperating-abetween the members to'cause the mandrel to be frictionally gripped between the members-means being provided for rotating the mandrel, :and means being provided. fordirecting the path: of travel of spring wire onto the mandrelzat anydesired angle so as to enable asprlng'having the desired pitch of its *convolutions toibe wound thereby; the provision of adevi-ce'of the type described in which the mandrel receiving openings :in one of the U-shapedmembers eachincludesa V-notch directed'in one direction-with respect to the path of relative movement between :the members and the mandrel receiving openings in 'the other members eachincludes. a V-nOtChldiI'GCtBd oppositely to the V-notches in the first-mentioned member; the provision of a. construction as above described in which screw means cooperate between the'bottoms of. U-shaped members to control the relative movement between :them and, therefore, the amount of frictionalresistance to the turning of a mandrel receivedubetween the members; the provision of a construction. as above described in which a novel form of wire guide is provided for directing the wire at desired. angles onto the winding mandrel; the provision .ofa construction as above described in which the wire guiding member is arranged to permit :friction to be applied to the wire passing :therethrough whereby to control the tightnesswithwhich the wire is wound on the mandrel; the provision of av construction as above described.iniwhich the Wire guide is so positioned with. respect'to one of the members as to maintaina minimum distance between it and the mandrel regardless of the sizeof the mandrelemployed; the provision of a device of the type described in which the wire. guide is freely adjustable during the winding of a wire upon the mandrel .whereby to enable a spring wound-thereby toibe provided with square ends; .anditheprovision ofza device of theitype details of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and then claimed, having the above andother objects in View.

In thev accompanying drawing which illustrates asuitable embodiment of the present invention and inawhichlike numerals refer .to like parts throughout the several diiferent views, 1

Fig. 1 is a partially broken, side elevational view of .the device of thepresent invention illustrating a helical springbeing wound thereon;

Fig.v 2 is an enlarged, transverse sectional-view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is air-enlarged, fragmentarytransverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken axially of the windingmandrel, as on the line 4- -4 of Fig. 3 illustrating the arrangement of parts for winding a spring of the closed'coil type; and,.

Fig.- 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the-arrangement of parts when winding a. coil spring of theopen, coil type.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Fig. 1 it will be noted that the device of .the presentinvention comprises a pair of U-shaped metallic members H] and 12, respectively, the. sides 'of each of which are arranged in parallelism to each-other. The member m is deeper than the member 'IZ-"and'it is sufficiently wider than the member l2, so as to receive the latter between its sides-in slidably contacting relation with respect thereto. The-members l0 and l2 may be conveniently formed from strip metal and preferably steel inasmuch as in the latter case they-may be hardened so as'better to resist. wear, or at least the portions provided with the openings hereinafter referred to'may be hardened for this purpose.

The side arms 10 adjacent their outer free ends are each provided with a hole I4, best brought out in'Fig."3, centrally of the width thereof, the

'holes 14. in:both. arms being: aligned with one another. "As bestlarought out in Fig. 3 the-holes I4 are of generally circular conformation over their lower portions and are formed to provide a V I6 on their outer sides directed centrally toward the free ends of the sides of the member I0. Likewise the side arms of the member I2 are each formed to provide an opening I8 therein of the same size and shape as the openings I4 but in this case with the V portion 20 thereof directed toward the bottom of the member I2, or in opposition to the V I6 of the members I4. This arrangement of the Vs f the openings I4 and I8 is that employed for frictionally gripping the winding mandrel when the direction of force setting up such friction is that tending to urge the inner member I2 outwardly of the member ID as will be more fully appreciated from the following description. As will also be appreciated, if the direction of force applied between the members III and I2 to apply frictional resistance in turning of the mandrel is desired in the opposite direction, that is in a direction to pull the member I2 downwardly into the member. ID, then the direction of the Vs in both members I0 and I2. will be reversed from that shown. It will also be appreciated from the following description that the Vs in that one of the members ID or I2 which is urged outwardly with respect to the other to frictionally grip the mandrel may open out through the ends of the arms or sides of such member instead of forming a part of the openings as shown, and reference hereinafter in the specification and claims to the arms or sides of the members I0 and I2 as having holes provided with such V's is to be interpreted accordingly.

Th openings I4 and I8 are adapted to receive therethrough a wire winding mandrel such as 22 upon which the desired coil of wire is to be wound. Various diameters of mandrels 22 may be employed up to the capacity of the holes I4 and I8 as will readily be appreciated. It may be stated as a matter of explanation that with a device of the type shown having holes I4 and I8 of a size capable of receiving a mandrel up to one-half inch in diameter, mandrels as small as 5% of an inch in diameter have been employed and wire of the same diameter as the mandrel tightly wound thereon to form a spring.

The mandrel 22 or its equivalent is in practice frictionally gripped between the VS I6 and 20 of the corresponding sets of arms of the members I0 and I2, it being understood that the amount of friction thus applied to the mandrel in any particular case will preferably be sufficiently great to prevent reverse direction of rotation of the mandrel during a spring winding operation under the tension built up in the spring wire being wound should the turning force on the mandrel be relieved. While in the broader aspects of the present invention any suitable means or mechanism may be applied in cooperating relation between the members It] and I2 to permit adjustment of the position of the latter within the former, and to apply a gripping force on a mandrel such as 22 received in the respective openings I4and I8 of such members, the particular means shown appears to be about as simple and economical as any. This comprises a. screw 24 which is threaded upwardly through a boss 26 fixed to the member ID centrally between the side arms thereof and which.

screw extends up to the member I2 and is there reduced in diameter as at 26 to form a shoulder which abuts against the lower face of the member I2. The reduced end 26 projects up through the member I2 in freely rotatable relation with respect thereto and above the member I2 is headed over as at 28, so that threading of the screw upwardly or downwardly in the boss 26 will cause a corresponding positive movement of the member I2 with respect to the member I 0.

Any suitable means may be provided for rotating the mandrel 22 but inasmuch as mandrels of different diameters will be employed in connection with the device such turning means should be capable of being adapted to all the various sizes of mandrels capable of being received by the device. The handle 30 shown provided for the purpose of turning the mandrel 22 includes an enlarged hub portion 32 which as best brought out in Fig. 2 is provided with an opening 34 therein of somewhat the same nature as the openings I4 and I8 in the members I0 and I 2 and previously described. In other words,

' the opening 34 is generally cylindrical but is pro- I A set screw '38 is threaded radially, of the hol 34 in alignment with the center line of the V 36 and is employed for clamping the ends of the mandrel against the sides of the V 36. Preferably the corresponding end of the mandrel is flattened off as indicated best in Fig. 2 to provide a seat for the inner end of the set screw 38 and thereby aid in preventing relative turning of the handle 30 and the mandre1 22. It will be noted that the hub portion 32 of the handle 30 on its inner face is provided with an axially projecting knob or headedpin 40 the pu pose of which will be presently described.

In order to guide the wire upon the mandrel 22 during a winding operation the following mechanism is provided. It will be appreciated fromthe following description that broadly this guiding mechanism may be provided in any position around the opening l4 at the corresponding end'of the member ID, but in accordance with one phase of the present invention is preferably provided opposite the point of the V I6 of such opening, this regardless of whether the pointof the V is at the top or the bottom and previously explained, In the particular embodiment shown, the point of the V being directed upwardly, the guiding device is, therefore, positioned over the corresponding V I6 for the corresponding opening I4, shown in the drawings as that one thereof at the ri-ghthand end of the device as viewed in Fig. 1. This guiding device comprises an outwardly projecting partially cylindrical boss 42 rigidly fixed to the outer face of the righthand arm or side of the channel member I0 immediately above th point of the V I6 of the corresponding opening I4. It is provided with a horizontally directed bore 44 therethrough the axis of which is in parallelism with the plane of thickness of the corresponding side of the member I0. Immediately above the point of the V the boss 42 is vertically slotted as at 46 preferably substantially completely through the bore as best brought out in Figs. 4 and 5. Rotatably received within the bore 44 of the boss 42 is the end of an L-shaped member 48 and the outer extremity of that portion of the member 48 received within the bore 44 is diametrically slotted as at 50.

In making a helical wire spring by the use of the device of the present invention a mandrel such as 22 is first selected of a diameter equal to, or slightly smaller than, the desired bore of the spring to be wound. The handle 30 is secur d to one end thereof and then the mandrel is projected through the holes I4 and I8 of the members l0 and I2 to a position in which the hub 32 of the handle 30 is in relatively closerelation with respect to the boss 42 on the'member Hi. The screw 24- is then tightened up until the desired amount of frictional resistance to rotation is created by the Vs I6 and'20 on the'mandren '22. Preferably the device'is then placed in avise so as to provide a=means for'holding the members 10 and i2 stationary during the spring Winding operation. A pieceof wiresuch-as 60 of the desired diameter is then projectrddown through the slot 46 of' the boss-'42 and through the slotlifl of the guide member 48 ariditsfree end is then hooked about the knob 40. The guide member 48 is then rotated in the bore 44 of the boss 42 until the slot 58 thereof is arranged to direct the wire 60 at the desired angle onto the mandrel 22. Th mandrel is then rotated by means of the handle 30, causing the wire to be wound upon it and the mandrel 22 to be forced axially with respect to the members Ill and I2 as the wire is wound upon the mandrel.

to form the spring. In case there is not sufiicient drag on the wire 60 in passing through the slots 46 and 50 to cause the wire 60 to tightly hug the mandrel 22 during the winding operation, the operator may simply press the guide member 48 axially of the bore with his hand or finger so as to bind the Wire 60 between the lefthand face of the slot 46, as viewed in Fig. 3, and the blind end of the slot 50 in the guide member 48, this setting up enough friction so as to remedy this :defect so that the final diameter of the bore of the spring being wound will be substantially equal to the diameter of the mandrel 22 being employed.

It will be appreciated that where an open coil spring is desired, that is of the type illustrated in Fig. 5, then the guide member 48 is turned in the boss 42 to such position that the slot 50 therein directs the wire 60 onto the mandrel 22 at such angle that the adjacent turns of the spring being formed will be spaced axially from one another by the desired distance. It will also be appreciated that the amount which the guide member 48 is turned to thus direct the wire 68 upon the mandrel 22 will govern the axial spacing between adjacent turns of the spring being formed.

Where a closed coil type of spring is desired then the guide member 48 may be rotated in the boss 42 so that the plane of the slot 50 therein is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the mandrel 22, r slightly to one side of such plane, so as to eliminate any spacing between the coils of the spring being formed. On the other hand, and as brought out in Figs. 1 and 4 it is possible with this device to Wind a closed coil type of spring in which the turns are tensioned toward one another so that a greatly increased amount of force is required to separate the coils as compared to the same type of spring where the coils are merely wound into contact with one another without such tension. In forming this last-mentioned type of spring the guide member 48 is turned to the relative position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, to the opposite side of a plane perpendicular to the axis of the mandrel 22 and passing through the axis of the bore 44 from the normal position of the guide member when winding an open coil type of spring as shown in Fig. 5. In this case the Wire in being fed onto the mandrel 22 attempts to ride over the turn previously made but where the resistance to the feed of the wire through the guiding device is sufliciently great,

and Which may be controlled as previously described, it is forced into direct contact with the mandrel and although the angularity is the reverse of that normally required tocause the mandrel to" feed outwardly, or to the right-as viewed in'Fig: 1 during the winding of the spring thereon;the' wire-in being coiled builds up between 'the'portion of thecoil already formedand the opposed face of the member l6 and causes the mandrel to be forced axially outwardlyas in the case of winding a conventional type of spring.

One feature of the present invention which is 'of' advantage particularly in winding up an open coil type of spring as illustrated in Fig. 5, by reason of the fact that the guide member 48 is adjustable by the operator during a winding operation, is that in starting to wind up the spring the guide member 48 may be positioned to form a square turn on the first end being wound, then shifted as, for instance, to the position shown in Fig. 5 to obtain the desired spacing of the coils, and when the proper length of the spring has been wound then shifted again to form a square end on the final end of the spring. Thus by simply controlling the position of the guide member 48 during the winding of the spring the operator may in one operation obtain a spring in which the end turns are square with the axis of the spring, as is often desirable, thus eliminating the added operation which would otherwise be necessary to provide such square end.

Having thus described my invention, what I claims by Letters Patent is:

1. In a spring winder, in combination, a pair of U-shaped members one received in nested relation within the other and slidable with respect thereto, the sides of each of said members each being provided with a V, both Vs of each of said members being directed in the same relative direction of movement between said members and the Vs of one member being directed oppositely to the Vs of the other of said members, said Vs being adapted to receive a mandrel, means for effecting relative movement between said members whereby to cause such mandrel to be frictionally clamped by the opposed Vs of said members, a boss fixed to the outer of said members and to the outer face of one of the sides thereof in closely adjacent relationship with respect to said V therein, said boss having a bore therein arranged with its axis in a plane transverse to the axis of said mandrel and having a slot extending therethrough into said bore in a plane transverse to the axis of said bore, and an axially slotted Wire guide member rotatably received within said bore, the slot in said guide member extending into intersecting relationship with respect to said slot in said boss.

2. In a spring winder, in combination, a pair of U-shaped members one received in nested relation within the other and slidable with respect thereto, the sides of each of said members each being provided with a V, both Vs of each of said members being directed in the same relative direction of movement between said members and the Vs on one member being directed oppositely to the Vs of the other of said members, said Vs being adapted to receive a mandrel, means for effecting relative movement between said members whereby to cause such mandrel to be frictionally clamped by the opposed Vs of said members, a boss fixed to the outer face of the side of the outer of said members in closely adjacent relationship with respect to the point of said V therein, said boss having a bore therethrough arranged with its axis substantially parallel to said face and perpendicular to the center line of the v therein, said boss having a transverse slot therein extending into said bore,

and a Wire guide member rotatably received within said slot and provided withan axially directed diametrical slot therein extending into intersecting relationship with respect to the first-mentioned slot.

JESSE A. GATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number" Peyton July 11, 1939 

